A Loose End

Coming home after a trip to Nebraska, I found a stack of mail waiting for me. One conspicuous set of envelopes was addressed to my former business from the IRS.

One of the lessons I learned running a business is that you have to be very diligent with record keeping. This is not something at which I excel. In fact I've been terrible at it.  In many cases I could be considered one of the worst record keepers in recorded history. (The joke is a bad record keeper probably isn't IN recorded history.)

I've known for a couple years that I was going to have to deal with flawed tax returns for the store at some point. I'm making that point tomorrow, mostly because I have the day off and already have to do a few errands that will prevent me from spending the entire day on any one task. So, after I take the kids where they need to go and collect the dogs that need to return home after a stay with the vet, I'm going to get out and deal with the zombie corps of my store.

First on the list is to get a face-to-face meeting with the staff at the storage company and see what my options are. The unit housing the physical remains of my store has been sold and will be demolished on September 30th. Being one person, it's going to take a massive effort to move everything out, even with more than sixty days notice. There is an option to get a price break on a newer unit, but I need to know how much it will cost me, and whether I can get free rent during the overlap.

I'm also going to need to find the last set of keys to the unit, which I don't have.  Without those it's going to be hard to get in and survey the contents.

Finally, I have to try and sell anything and everything I can out of the storage unit so I don't have to move it.  The less I have to move, the more likely it is I'll get out of the unit before I end up in the hospital with a strained back.

Then, once I have a better grasp of what is happening at the storage unit, I'm going to call up the IRS and see what I can work out.  Altogether a great way to spend a day off.

This is what I mean by life debt. I've let this whole store closing be a burden on my psyche for too long.  Years now.  Before that the operating store was a source of anxiety and consternation. It was a release to close it down, but I never paid off the debt, so I had to deal with that.  The monetary debt is one thing, but the life debt is another.

Clearing out these debts is one of the life-changing shifts of focus I need to make.  I'm tired of carrying it all around on my neck. I doubt I can get rid of it all at once, but if I can eliminate a few of these debts I'll be happier and probably healthier, too.